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Wednesday newspaper round-up: Tax-cuts, Tesco, Ukraine

George Osborne, chancellor, is under pressure from Tory MPs to use next month's Budget to announce pre-election tax cuts to offset the prospect of a politically damaging rise in interest rates before polling day. One Tory MP said the idea of the Bank of England raising base rates from a historic low of 0.5 per cent before the May 2015 election was like an "iceberg" and the chancellor needed to take pre-emptive action. - Financial Times

The opening salvo in a supermarket price war was fired yesterday by Tesco as it announced a multimillion-pound investment in price cuts. Britain's biggest supermarket was also forced to concede publicly that it had scrapped a key profit target, set in the wake of a profit warning two years ago, in a wide-ranging update to the City aimed at reassuring investors on the turnaround of its British business. - The Times

The leaders of Ukraine's revolution have told Western governments that they have three days to find €5bn to avert economic collapse. A senior Western diplomat said last night that, according to one of the most influential figures in the former opposition, "they need €5bn [£4.1bn] by the end of the week". - The Times

Credit Suisse made false claims in US visa applications, conducted business with clients in secret elevators and shredded documents to help more than 22,000 American customers avoid US taxes, according to a scathing report by a US congressional committee. The Swiss investment bank handed account statements to one client tucked inside a Sports Illustrated magazine as part of its "cloak and dagger tactics", according to Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. - Financial Times

Savers have been dealt another blow as banks and building societies continue to cut the rates they pay on fixed-rate bonds and cash Isas. Yorkshire BS has closed its top 2% deal fixed for 18 months. The account was on offer for just three weeks. Other deals to disappear include Post Office, Virgin Money, Sainsbury's Bank, Principality BS and Aldermore Bank. - Daily Mail

It may have fallen behind the field in the performance stakes, but Ladbrokes appears to have got a jump on its rivals on the issue of problem gambling by announcing plans to link the matter to executive pay. The move, amid growing political disquiet over big-jackpot betting terminals in bookmakers' shops and claims that they are encouraging gambling addiction, prompted Coral to confirm that it would consider a similar move, while William Hill claimed that Ralph Topping, its chief executive, already counted social responsibility as one of his objectives. - The Times

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